


Those Things Above and Below

by orphan_account



Series: Fill the Void [39]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minecraft, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23787505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Nature is meant to exist within a balance. The good and the bad. The dark and the light. Those Things Above and Those Things Below. Neither can outweigh each other or what is foretold is total cataclysm. To be reborn and remade and begin anew.--In which the Dark God and the Solar Queen learn to live with each other.
Relationships: Gavin Free/Ryan Haywood
Series: Fill the Void [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663750
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	Those Things Above and Below

Nature is meant to exist within a balance. The good and the bad. The dark and the light. Those Things Above and Those Things Below. Neither can outweigh each other or what is foretold is total cataclysm. To be reborn and remade and begin anew.

Their First Lives was something torrid. They knew little of their own powers, the six of them. All new and bright eyed, power sparking at their fingertips. They each have their counterpart, and for Ryan—the Dark God, of Those Things Below—his counterpart was Gavin—the self-proclaimed Solar Queen, of Those Things Above. Ryan didn’t like Gavin at first. His Light came to Ryan’s side of creation, disturbing his residents, his creations, his order of life. Gavin wished to spread his Light wherever he could so that no one would ever have to fear the darkness. Ryan wanted to argue that the only of them were Them. The gods. The creators. But he didn’t because Gavin was spreading his damn Light everywhere and Ryan took it as a personal invasion. So to knock Gavin off his pedestal, Ryan did something very rash and probably very stupid.

He took out the World Tree and for that, their world vanished and they were all destroyed. Needless to say, during their next Cycle, none were pleased with Ryan. If he had known they would retain their memories from cycle to cycle, he wouldn’t have done it.

“Stay away from my lands,” Ryan said. “They’re _mine_ and you can’t take them from me.”

Gavin looked absolutely stricken. “I wasn’t trying to take them from you. I was only trying to spread the sunshine, you know? Make your lands a little less gloomy.”

“Gavin,” Jack said then. “You can’t do that. Ryan’s Darkness is the same as your Light. You’re essentially killing him.”

Gavin crossed his arms, looking slightly admonished. “I didn’t mean to.”

“We know,” Jack said. “But I think we need to establish some ground rules.”

So then it was decided. They had the Cycle of Day and the Cycle of Night. That kept Gavin and Ryan apart, so they each had their times to come out and create what they liked. And for then it was good.

* * *

The second Cataclysm was no fault of either the Dark God or Solar Queen. It was Michael, the Eternal Wanderer, who unleashed a terrible plague on this plane of existence in the form of an ancient Deity, Gaia. None survived her wrath until her hunger was sated.

* * *

Ryan liked his Cycle of Night. He had his time and space to create and build, towering mountains, deep canyons. He had built each place to have one spot, tiny thought it was, to never be penetrated by the Light. Something he hoped Gavin would never see, but something he could enjoy every time he needed to leave at his Cycle’s end. It gave him a small window to look into Gavin’s world, to see Creation under the Light instead of the darkness. It wasn’t that he was jealous of what the others could see during the Light Cycle, but his life was composed of blacks and greys and small pinpricks of white light. He liked seeing the colour of Geoff’s chickens, of Jack’s gardens, of Michael’s gaudy armour.

It was his secret, something only he could do and access. He liked it. It was nice.

That was until he saw Gavin’s face peering into one of his ‘windows.’

“Ryan?” he said. “Is that you? It’s been so long! How are you doing!”

Ryan’s sudden tumble back triggered an avalanche which triggered another Cataclysm.

He accidentally killed Gavin, buried him underneath a mountain he could not get out from. And without something to balance out Ryan’s Darkness, everything began to wither and die out above them, until all that remained was Ryan himself. He stood at the World Tree with an ax, his Dark Creations milling around him, looking unfamiliar and terrifying, as if they were growing powers of their own beyond his. So he killed the World and began anew.

* * *

It wasn’t easy trying to find the right balance. It could be an accident that sets them off. Or if they were just being petty, but the others were paying the price from Gavin and Ryan’s tumultuous relationship.

“You guys need to figure something out,” Geoff said. “Because I am _not_ losing my chickens. _Again._ ”

So they tried to figure something out. How to balance themselves and their natures so it wouldn’t result in another Cataclysm.

Ryan stood at the edge of a cave, the shadows only letting him get so far as Gavin perched himself on a boulder.

“So,” Ryan said. “Where do you, uh, want to start?”

Gavin shrugged. “I don’t know. Technically the first time you killed me was an accident. So I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Isn’t it all just naturally? That things have a beginning and then an end?”

“Would you consider what we do—the whole rebirth Cycle—truly an end?”

“It’s like an end.”

Ryan found himself smiling a little. “I don’t know what you want to do. How we can just … balance each other out a bit?”

“I think I got something.” Gavin jumped to his feet. “What if we each gave a bit of ourselves to the other, you know, and just let each other exist in each other’s spheres?”

Ryan considered it for a moment. “What do you have in mind?”

Gavin pulled out from underneath his cloak a lantern. “Ta-da!”

Ryan frowned. “What? A glorified lantern?”

“No, you dolt. It’s my Light in a jar for you! You can hang it up in your bedroom. Michael and I have a bet going that it’s just a slab of rock. Thought I’d provide you with something nice to light up your home.” He set the lantern down just on the edge of the shadow, allowing Ryan to pick it up safely. It was a soft warm glow that didn’t burn him. It felt … nice.

“So give it a go and let me know what you go up for me.”

Oh, Ryan had many ideas. “I’ll let you know in a few days.”

* * *

Gavin returned those few days later. “What did you do?” he asked.

“Do what?” Ryan asked innocently.

“There’s spots on my face.” Indeed, there was a smattering of spots across Gavin’s nose, his cheeks.

“Oh!” Ryan said. “That’s interesting. Yeah. I made sunspots. Just threw a few spots there up on your sun. I didn’t know it’d affect you.”

“How could it not! I’m the Solar Queen for Heaven’s sake!”

Ryan shrugged. “I didn’t know. Besides. They look cute.”

Gavin blushed. “Cute? You think I’m cute.”

Ryan blinked. “Uh, I, uh.”

“Don’t worry, Ryan, I won’t tell. You know, for a guy who dresses all in black, you sure are adorable.”

Ryan smiled. Somehow he felt like this was a new development in their saga.


End file.
